I was just walking down my memory lane
Glancing at the shifting hazy frames

She moves into the café silently waiting in the queue trying her best to ignore the people whose eyes have been following her from outside the café. The damned glass walls. She feels precipitation accumulate above her lips. She tries to breathe as slowly as she can but she cannot help to slow down the pounding heart.

No. This shouldn't have happened. I don't hate him like that. I just can't punch him. I crossed the blurry line between hate and hostility.

She sighs wiping her sweat off her temple. She hears a few guys cracking into fits of laughter behind her back. Insecure she turns around. Yep. They have been looking in her direction. She quickly looks away straightening her back and pulling her coat collars together.

Aariz marches into the café and finds him being scanned by the crowd of people silently whispering among themselves. The anger still gurgling in him wants him to drag her to the car but when he overhears a group of school guys looking in Selena's direction he loses it. He squeezes his eyes close to calm himself down just in case he creates another popcorn-worthy drama. And he forces his eyes open, his anger glints in his honey brown eyes. He marches up to their booth and simply slams a hand on the table. The glasses sitting in the pool of their sweat with slowly melting ice-creams vibrate.

"Stop!'' he hisses.

The laughter dies down. She feels the shift of people behind her, "Hey.", Aariz's whispering stiffens her. Not him again.

"Can I just have orange juice in peace? I haven't eaten anything since breakfast.", she speaks out loud and clearly which shifts people's attention towards them.

He nods silently, "Tell me where your things are. I'll grab them for you."

She stares at him searching into his eyes. The anger is gone. His eyes follow hers as she scans his face for the bruises. But there aren't any. No epistaxis. Good. Still, which part of her punch he didn't understand? No means no.

"Your mom asked me.", he adds.

She raises her eyebrows at him, pulls the phone out of her pocket, and dials her mom's number. Her eyes are still fixed on him. He folds his arms and looks away moving forward as the barista is waiting for their orders, "Two orange juice, please. And two dark chocolate chip muffins."

It is an open truth that bitter people like bitter things. He wants to ask what her favorite flavor is but with the manly ego bruised by the punch he decides to torment her with his favorite flavor, dark chocolate.

She stares at him. He turns around with his back towards her, "I just have 10 dirhams. You are paying for all this." He steals a glimpse of her stress-ridden face dialing the phone number.

"Hello?", her mom finally picks up.

"Gosh! Mom! Did you ask Aariz to pick me up?", she asks, still staring at him who is now taking money out of his jet black leather wallet.

"Selena. Please. Don't make a fuss. For my sake just come with him-" A sudden revolting voice of blech diverts her attention from her mom.

Her eyes track the voice. The person moves towards the dustbin throwing up in it. She walks up to her pats her back and holds her hair up. When she's done. She holds her by hand and makes her sit offering her water from her backpack.

"How are you doing now?", Selena asks.
"Good I guess.", the girl looks at Selena bending in front of her.
"Does it hurt somewhere?", she holds her hands.
"God! It's so embarrassing.", the girl cleans her mouth with a piece of tissue paper.
"It's okay. It happens"
"I am having cramps."
"Can you point to the location?"
The girl points in front of her pelvis moving her hand to the back and her thigh.
"Are you on your periods?", Selena opens the first zip of her bag and pulls out her mefenamic acid, "Do you have any recent history of vomiting?"
"No, it's just that it's the first day."
"Here...", she sanitizes her hands and places a tablet in her mouth, "You'll feel better in a bit."

Aariz is so busy staring at the entire situation that he forgets the order that is waiting for him on the counter. The other people in the queue are unbothered too because of the sudden change of events.

When the girl finally swallows the pill he picks up the order to find a booth. Seeing Selena make her way towards the booth without her bag lying on the floor, he motions to her. She ignores him, rolling her eyes.

His boney shoulder almost collides with her as he walks past her to the back. Her eyes revert to her shoulder with her lips pursed under her mask almost cursing. Why can people not keep their bodies to themselves? She turns around finding her bag thrown in the air. She misses it and it falls right on her feet.

"Now since I am treating you, you better be a good girl and pack your stuff up."

"Please! Sounds so wrong!", she sips her orange juice. Her stomach grumbles as she pours in the fluids first. The stomach churns demanding more nutrients. It churns loud enough that Aariz stops and gives her a death stare. She looks away pretending it isn't her.

The school guys in the booth opposite them are no longer staring at them but the black and white senior jackets catch her eyes. She is thrown back into last year, December 2021. The cool breezy winters have always called for a good barbecue season each year for the families to come together after a lapse of good 4 months. Usually on 2nd December, the national day of The United Arab Emirates.

The previous year had been exceptionally eventful. What Selena could not figure out was whether it was the absence of Aariz and Nooran that made it eventful or Ihsan leading them into the wilderness of Mushrif Park in the darkness till they lost their way back. It could have been the latter because of the tantrum Saad and Harun threw when Nuha officially announced that they are lost. Even though after a few minutes she tried to comfort them with her fake confidence of knowing the way back through the wet pavement holding puddles with no ray of light to reflect the trees towering over them on either side. The whispers of trees weren't helping them either.

She could have believed the latter was true but she can't because Mrs. Hafeez had brought Aariz's senior jacket to wear at the park if the night becomes bone freezing for her. And it did. Her heart had beat extrasystole as she marveled how perfectly it fitted his mom over her a pastel pink colored kameez shalwar. His mom stood on the cool orange sand sinking her into it as she talked with her mom, Ihsan's mom, and her aunt. Her aunt had also wrapped herself up in her thick Kashmiri shawl. As her aunt mentioned about snowfall in the UK, Mrs. Hafeez thought it was necessary to bring up her son too since Aariz and Nooran had been best friends since childhood.

Something that she saw in the eyes of two mothers missing their children. Maybe the glistening tears they held back trying to feel their presence around them in the form of the jacket or the hugging of the shawl.

Aariz wants to wave his hand in her direction to warn her of the time ticking off. The expo 2020 he is missing all thanks to her tantrum and miscommunication. But something in her eyes draws attention to whatever she is earnestly gazing at.

Her chewing of the straw while slurping orange juice made him revolt. Yep. It's better to see what she is looking at. The senior year students? One of the guys turns in her direction trying to catch her eyes and smile. But when Aariz turns back to her expecting a middle finger or an abusive mumbling that his ears can not get accustomed to he is surprised. She is still staring. No reaction. Still chewing. Still slurping. Perhaps she is lost in her world. A glance at the guys in the booth before collapsing back into his seat gives him a hint of her thought.

Nooran.

The school monogram is definitely of Etihad High where Nooran studied his 13 years of education no matter how much of the hardships his family faced in certain years because of the uncertainty that Dubai holds for its ex-pats. The trick is to hold onto the ropes of hope in the darkness no matter how deep it digs in your skin.

The way he held onto her gaming tablet every time she was around. She never really cared about him installing memory munching gaming apps draining the battery. When all the guests gathered in the evening there would be five fingers tapping the overheated screen playing some multiplayer game he doesn't even remember.

Selena finishes her juice and grabs the muffin and stands up to leave, "I'll pick up my things from the library."

"Sit down. Eat first." he points a finger at the seat. She flips her hijab at him and turns around. He chugs down his orange juice, grabs his muffin, and makes a run behind her.

In the doorway, they run into the same friend.

"Guys show me your hands.", his friend protrudes his one hand out and grabs Aariz's hand pushing his sleeves up, exposing the wrist. Selena hangs her backpack on both shoulders before protruding her hand in his direction skeptical of his intentions.

"What research are you doing on hands Mr. Mad Scientist?", she laughs sheepishly.
"Oh just a casual fortune telling here.", he smiles and swiftly grabs both of the hands handcuffing them.

Selena gasps in horror. His friend makes a run towards the dustbin and drops the key in it. Aariz lurches towards him. The metal digs into Selena's skin tugging her in his direction. Aariz feels an immense weight on his wrist. With a thud they both fall. Aariz's muffin squashes into the tiled floor while Selena hugs her muffin, soiling her white coat.

---

So how's the chapter?

Shaytan waiting for me to get done with my prayers quickly so we can continue watching next episode on Netflix.
(of Bridgerton)
👁👄👁